40 Development Experts and Senior Government Officials Convene in New Delhi for Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation Dialogue

Series organized by The Asia Foundation and Korea Development Institute, hosted by Delhi-based Research and Information System for Developing Countries

San Francisco and New Delhi, March 8, 2012 — Rapid economic growth in Asia and other developing regions of the world is triggering a sea change in international aid. Nowhere is this more evident than in India. From March 5 through 7, over 40 development experts representing more than 10 countries convened in New Delhi for the fifth meeting of the Asian Approaches to Development Cooperation dialogue series, jointly organized by The Asia Foundation and Korea Development Institute (KDI). The goal of this ongoing series is to provide a forum for sharing perspectives and approaches among both emerging and traditional donors in the complex and rapidly changing arena of international development cooperation.

Hosted by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a think tank affiliated with the Government of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the discussions in New Delhi highlighted India’s important role as a growing development cooperation partner. The meeting focused on the themes of pro-poor growth, lessons from Asian countries’ experiences as both beneficiaries and donors, and how these experiences compare with the approaches of traditional donors belonging to the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Ambassador Sudhir Vyas, the Secretary of Economic Relations in India’s Ministry of External Affairs, provided the keynote address at the welcome dinner on March 6. Other distinguished participants included Enna Park, Director General for Development Cooperation at Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who served as a key figure in organizing the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4) held in Busan, Korea in November 2011. Countries participating at the dialogue included a range of both emerging and traditional development cooperation partners, as well as recipient countries, from the Asia region and beyond, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, and the United States.

“Countries that were once beneficiaries of assistance are now emerging as donors themselves, while traditional donors are reassessing their objectives and modalities in order to stay relevant,” remarked Nick Langton, The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in India. “The Asia Foundation and KDI are well-placed to provide a forum for these countries to articulate their views and consider options for a more inclusive dialogue around development cooperation.”